Gamernode: Latest Game and Console News

Castaway needs inner tube to stay afloat

VP Stefan Scandizzo confirmed to Next-Gen in an e-mail on Monday the "suspension/closure" of Castaway, adding that the studio has been closed since April 1 due to lack of funding.

"There have been many letters and posts supporting us and wishing us well; on behalf of the team here at Castaway, I'd like to thank them," Scandizzo wrote. "There have also been a number of companies and individuals that have since contacted us about assisting our studio but no decisions have been made at this time as to the company's future."

Castaway, which was founded by former Blizzard North employees in 2003 created the advergame Yaris for the XBL and were in works on a Diablo-inspired title called Djinn, which at this point has had its operations suspended.

Scandizzo wasn't afriad to admit that the studio ne...

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Trauma Center 2 passes MCAT

In easily the best news I've read all day, Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 is coming to the US in June, a mere two months from now. Wooo!

Dr. Stiles and Nurse Angie are back, presumably with a vengeance. The newest installment of the Trauma Center franchise will be complete with new difficulty modes and hopefully some enhanced powers. Last time they battled the GUILT virus that was plaguing Hope Hospital -- who knows what's in store for the dynamic duo this time around. They could even be up against ANGST or SORROW!

I absolutely loved the first Trauma Center. It was the second game I ever bought for my DS, and I played the hell out of it. It still remains one of my favorite games on the system, so I'm excited to get back into my scrubs.

I'm hoping they allow you to swap difficulty mo...

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Man who fired Gerstmann gets the axe

We all remember the big hoopla that happened last November (that long ago?) over at Gamespot regarding the sudden termination of Jeff Gerstmann.

Many of the sources pointed to the review that Gerstmann did on Kane and Lynch: Dead Men being the "knife in the back" that resulted in his termination. After that, fingers were pointed to executive Josh Larson, VP of games at parent company CNET who replaced former Editor in Chief Greg Kasavi.

Internal communication informing employees informed Kotaku that "new management structure means that Josh Larson's position as VP, Games is being eliminated and Josh will be leaving the company." CNET also announced last week that it would cut 10 percent of its work force, about 120 employees.

Anonymous GameSpot employees vocally expressed their opinion abou...

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If EA and Take-Two merge, will GTA4 be pushed back...

Remember how EA tried to buy Take-Two? And then tried again and again? Well, on the latest episode of Bonus Round with Geoff Keighley, infamous industry analyst Michael Pachter talked about possible effects of EA purchasing Take-Two after their recently updated bid. According to him, if EA is successful in merging with the company (thereby forming some Super Publisher), it's very likely that EA will hold off on releasing Grand Theft Auto IV until later this year. Not only that, but they have an economic incentive to do so. Pachter believes that by delaying GTA4 all the way to the fourth quarter of the year (!!!), EA will make much more money on the title.

So why doesn't Take-Two just wait until later this year to release Grand Theft Auto IV if it's going to be far more profitable in the f...

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Australia has a(nother) problem with GTA

Since the Grand Theft Auto franchise moved from the top down world to a third person, 3D environment, Australia has recieved toned down versions just for them. It appears Grand Theft Auto 4 is no exception -- but why? (Warning: American understanding of Australia incoming.)The problem stems from Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification, the same office that rates videogames. Currently their highest rating is MA15+. The US has MA17+ while many European countries and New Zealand have R18+. The difference between the Australia and the US ratings may look like only two years, but they are important years. You're talking about the difference between someone in High School, and someone who has graduated High School.It's strange to think that Australia doesn't have a restricti...

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Why is Mass Effect a trilogy?

Ka-ching. That's the sound Mass Effect developer BioWare has heard since November. It's like a lullaby that allows executives to sleep easy. Quite often that same sound is what drives developers to create sequels to games. BioWare, however, claims otherwise.

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This week's NA game releases: 4/6 to 4/12

This week is a bit lacking in terms of the number of games being released, but the PC is getting the top billing since a majority of the games being released are for that platform.

Arguably, the biggest release for the PC this week would be Assassin's Creed from Ubisoft. A mere five months after the game was released for the Xbox 360, the PC version will feature four new mission types not shown in its cousin console platform.

In addition to a retail release, Assassin's Creed will be released on Steam. Details on the new mission types and the PC requirements can be read here.

Other notable releases include individual retail boxes for Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2 for PC, Ikaruga for Xbox Live Arcade and Sam & Max Episode 205: What's New, Beelzebub? for PC.

Here are this ...

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Stephen King writes on videogame violence

Stephen King is no stranger to controversy surrounding pop-culture. The legendary author has had numerous books blasted by politicians, the media and parents, and for years was blamed for all sorts of ills in American (and even British) society. So it should be no surprise that Mr. King has found a kindred spirit in the videogame industry, currently facing the same type of political blame that he conquered long ago. In a new self-written editorial for Entertainment Weekly, King speaks on the issue, and offers his opinion on the subject. Read on to see what he has to say.

"I'm no fan of videogames; pretty much gave them up in the late '70s or early '80s, when my kids used to beat me regularly at Pitfall! (hell, they used to beat me at Pong, and back then our youngest wasn't yet eligible for...

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The Weekly Grind 1: Fools Abound

Welcome to The Weekly Grind, a weekly roundup of all of the important news that graced the ever-growing genre of the MMORPG. Make sure to check the end of the post to see how a reader like yourself can get involved! Sit back and relax while we take a stroll through our favorite virtual worlds.

As all of you know, April Fools Day made a quick peek this week, and surprisingly the video game industry took this opportunity to show their funny side a bit more than usual. I myself thought I was part of an April Fool's joke when out of nowhere a company called me on my cellphone and wanted to meet me for an interview. I was extremely excited and set up a date quickly after. As I started to tell the news to some of my friends, half of them were skeptical, telling me it was most likely an April Foo...

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Eidos Montreal working on secret game: Thief 4?

Remember when we reported on that Deus Ex 3 is being worked on by Eidos Montreal? Having thoroughly enjoyed Deus Ex and liked Deus Ex 2, hearing of the third game certainly peaked my interest.

According to a cryptic message on Eidos Montreal's website, the developer could be working on another game to a classic franchise.

The message simply states, "Eidos-Montreal is proud to announce the recruitment for our 2nd "AAA" project... A hint! The title begins with the letter "T".' Some speculation can rule out that this AAA project would be based on a current and existing franchise (or else this isn't much of a hint) right off the bat.

So just thinking about other possible series that begins with T from Eidos Interactive, Tomb Raider or TimeSplitters (now owned by EA), the last choice is Thief!

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Saints Row 2 shipping on August 26th

Here's Gary Busey marketing Saints Row 2. Why, well the real question is why not! In the meantime, you can be satisified that Saints Row 2 will be released on August 26th for Xbox 360 and PS3.

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First screenshots and trailer for Dawn of War 2

With Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II confirmed, folks are wondering how the game will look with the spiffy Essence 2.0 engine giving some beefy backing. Thankfully, THQ released three new screenshots that showcase the game in all of its awesome glory and they give some small insight on how the game will play.

As previously mentioned, the screenshots only show the two currently confirmed races, the Space Marines and the Orks. But examine the vertical jetpack jump the Space Marines undergo in the second screenshot, or the number of Space Marines squads that are on the screen in each screenshot -- Relic mentioned they're going to pay attention on the number of squads the player will control.

Also if you've missed it, all players who pick up the recently released third and last Dawn of War expa...

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The Force Unleashed to be unleashed in September

LucasArts has announced the dates for release of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The game will launch on September 16 in the US, September 17 in Australia and September 19 in Europe.

The highly awaited game for Star Wars fans will have gamers going over to the Dark Side of The Force and all that goes along with it...mayhem, levitation, destruction and more.

Peter Hirschmann, VP of Product Development at LA said, "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is one of the most ambitious projects LucasArts has ever launched. The combination of a great new Star Wars story with revolutionary new technology and game play means more fun than you've ever had in the Star Wars universe. We can't wait until gamers get their hands on it this September."

SW: TFU will be using the Euphoria Engine, which simulates the ...

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Wideband is here at 50Mbps but at a premium price

No matter what high-speed Internet service you use, there is always the wish for even higher broadband speeds. Comcast says that your wish is their command...for a stiff price of $149.99 per month, that is. The DOCSIS 3.0 protocol is promising download speeds of 50Mbps and uploads at 5Mbps.

To put this all in perspective, a typical "fast" download speed is around 3Mbps. Compared to the 50Mbps that Comcast is offering, you'll probably need to install a radiator on your modem to keep it cool.

The new service is a move from broadband to wideband. Mitch Bowling of Comcast said, "We believe wideband will usher-in a new era of speed and Internet innovation for today's digital consumers. Wideband is the future, and it's coming fast."

Will the blazing speed conection ever be more affordable for your...

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Sam & Max Season One announced for Wii!

The PC has been seeing regular episodic releases of the Sam and Max franchise for quite a while now. It was only yesterday, however, that Telltale Games announced the impending release of Sam and Max Season One for the Nintendo Wii.

Season One was released in its entirety on the PC in August of last year but the Wii will see it this fall in both the USA and the UK.

There was no mention of Season Two heading to the Wii (or any other consoles), but chances are we'll see it and the other seasons in due time. The Wii edition of Sam and Max Season One will be published by Dreamcatcher in the US and by JoWood in the UK.

[Via GameSpot]

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DualShock 3 is available. But there's another shoc...

If you were one of the many PS3 fans who cried about not having rumble in your SixAxis PS3 controller, you have something to be happy about...maybe.

Sony's DualShock 3 controller is now available for sale and it also has something else that will shock you as well...its $55 price tag which makes it the most expensive single standard game controller out there. (See my top 10 reasons why the DS3 costs so dang much.)

Right now, it seems that the DS3 will be compatible with virtually every PS3 game. Sony has an official list of the games that will work on their site. Some PS3 games will get their compatibility via game updates from PlayStation Network.

Sony lost a major lawsuit to Immersion Corp. over a patent infringement of the rumble technology used in PlayStation DualShock controllers. Immer...

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Mr. Driller Online is a buggy mess

You may have purchased XBLA's newest title, Mr. Driller Online. If so, you may not be the happiest gamer right now. Critics and consumers alike are reporting that the game is filled with bugs, crashes, and is plainly just a showcase of terrible programming skills.

When playing online, the game will frequently crash, your character will get stuck in walls, and you will often encounter awful game-breaking lag. Players report that these problems do not present themselves when playing the game's offline portion, so these bugs are probably just caused by buggy netcode.

Still, it's quite ironic (depressingly so) considering this game is called Mr. Driller Online. Hopefully a patch is issued soon to fix these glaring bugs.

[Via Kotaku]

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Mercenaries 2 launch date. Game looking awesome

Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames looks like a super fun title with tons of explosions and killing. But it has gone through the curse of being delayed for awhile, until today.

According to the new trailer, the game as an official release of August 31, 2008, which when you think about it is quite a long ways away.

Oh well, if you had doubts about the game before, check out this new trailer that features an angry tatooed badass, explosions, slo-mo, explosions, fights on top of a tank and explosions.

If they fixed the in-game lag and slowdown that seemed prevelant in the previous trailers, this could be one hell of a game.

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Pro Tip: Super Smash Bros.

Welcome to the evening edition of Pro Tip, a weekly feature where I pull a game off my shelf and try to pass along a quick and helpfull tip. This week I'm mixing it up a little. Instead of focusing on one game, I am taking things broad brush. I'm looking at Super Smash Bros. as a franchise

The concept behind Super Smash Bros., or SSB as we call it in my house, is to take all of the gaming legends and pit them against one another in an all out winner take all... er.. brawl. Luckily, when it comes to gaming legends, Nintendo has the market cornered.

The game itself probably comes from two guys geeking out about who would win in a fight, Mario or Link. From there they decided to create a game that, as the Nintendo manifest dictates, has come out on every console since it's inception

I don'...

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Find a key to Niko's Lock Box, win 10 grand

So, I'm probably one of five people on the planet not excited for the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. However, that does not mean I can't be excited for promos and games leading up to the release on April 29th.

GameStop stores in New York City and the surrounding areas are taking place in a really cool ARG / contest which could land someone ten thousand dollars. On April 1st one thousand keys were delivered to GameStop stores surrounding 'Liberty City.'

Each key is attached to a tag that reads: If found, please call: 212-265-4400

Upon calling the number, which I hope you do, you get a recording from some Brooklyn-Italian gangster informing you that "you've found a key to Niko's lock box." He goes on to tell you that Niko's lock box has thirty thousand dollars in it and your key could unlo...

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